Why It Failed
Why It Failed is a weekly mini business documentary series that breaks down the rise and fall of once-hot companies through the lens of marketing, growth, and operator mistakes.
Every week, host Jimmy Kim (entrepreneur, email marketing operator, and founder of multiple businesses) dissects the companies everyone thought would win… but didn’t.
Not just what happened.
But:
• where the growth broke
• which marketing bets backfired
• how CAC killed margins
• why retention failed
• and what we would do differently today
Think: business true-crime for founders.
If you’re a:
• founder
• marketer
• DTC operator
• investor
• or startup nerd
This show will make you sharper.
New episodes every week.
Subscribe and learn from other people’s expensive mistakes.
Why It Failed
At its peak, Peloton wasn’t just a fitness brand.
It was a lifestyle.
A community.
A status symbol.
During the pandemic, demand exploded.
Living rooms became gyms.
Instructors became celebrities.
And Peloton scaled as if the growth would last forever.
It didn’t.
In this episode of Why It Failed, Jimmy Kim breaks down how one of the strongest consumer brands of the pandemic lost over 90% of its value after overestimating demand.
Through a marketing and operator lens, we analyze:
• Why temporary demand spikes are dangerous
• The scaling decisions that created massive inventory
• How pandemic behavior misled leadership
• Why premium brands can’t afford operational failure
• The real lesson behind hypergrowth assumptions
4 months ago | [YT] | 1
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Why It Failed
MoviePass promised something unbelievable:
Unlimited movies in theaters for just $9.95 per month.
Millions of people signed up.
The internet called it the greatest deal ever.
The company’s growth exploded.
And then… the math hit.
In this episode of Why It Failed, Jimmy Kim breaks down the rise and collapse of MoviePass, the subscription startup that lost money every time customers loved the product.
Through a marketing and operator lens, we analyze:
• Why growth without unit economics is fatal
• The $10 pricing mistake that doomed the business
• How heavy users accelerated losses
• Why breaking the core promise destroyed retention
• The real lesson behind subscription economics
4 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 0
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